While the rides were being set up, animals were getting celebrity treatment to prepare for the upcoming competition.

"We wash them, clip them, even blow-dry them," said Mary Barnes, while her daughter, Brooke, washed her cow, Daisey. "They are very pampered and get a lot of attention."

Brooke, 17, has had a champion animal each of the four years she has competed at the Fair.

"They're her babies," Mary said of the animals.

Eliza Tabuchi, 4, shrieked loudly after repeatedly feeding handfuls of hay to goats who already had survived their beauty ordeal with an electric hair trimmer.

"We like to go on the rides, the carousel and the games," she said. "And I really want to ride the camels this year."

A group of children on an excursion with a day-care center were intrigued with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry tent, filled with animal skulls, insect displays, puzzles and an Australian Bearded Dragon.

"I saw a coyote skin, and that was cool," said 8-year-old Beth McClelland of Dublin. "I've never been able to touch one. It's really fascinating."

"They're freaky," 7-year-old Dublin resident Kelly Gong said of the insect displays. "I wouldn't want to see them up close and alive."

The hot weather drove many people into the air-conditioned comfort of the food and crafts exhibit in the Young California Building, which had already been awarded prizes by the judges.

Laural Sledge, 52, of San Jose has been coming to the fair for more than a decade and said the table-setting competition has always been her favorite. Entrants create a place setting and menu based on a theme such as a beach party or cartoon characters.

"We're all so rushed these days, and people don't take the time to really dress up their tables anymore," she said. "It makes me think not to pull out the same old cups and plates and do something different and creative."

Others came to see demonstrations of the newest gadgets being sold at the fair, from a Mr. Sticky lint roller to long-lasting lipstick.

"Oohs" and "Aahs" punctuated a sales pitch at the Super Chamois booth, where a crowd gathered to watch the spill-soaking abilities of a new cleaning cloth.

"This is what we come for," said Margie Miller, 46, who traveled from Stockton with her children and her sister, Sheri Moore of Pleasanton. "We love coming to see the new thing. This looks great!"

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
(510) 208-6477 Fax
lmclaughlin@angnewspapers.com Email